Executive Councilors Consider Jerry Little for Banking Commissioner

The state’s Executive Council met Friday to discuss the appointment of state Senator Jerry Little to the position of banking commissioner by Governor Maggie Hassan.

Little, a Republican from Weare, previously spent 20 years as a lobbyist for New Hampshire’s banking industry, and he faced skeptical questions based on that record from Democratic councilor Colin Van Ostern.

“There was a phrase you said earlier I could tell you were passionate about. You said these institutions are choking on regulations. It was kind of visceral. Do you feel the same passion for consumers?

Absolutely.”

Several of Little’s senate colleagues, including Republican Nancy Stiles of Hampton and Democrat Dan Feltes of Concord testified in favor of his nomination.

If confirmed, Little would serve as banking commissioner until 2019.

Councilors will vote on whether to confirm Little’s nomination at a later meeting.

Chris Sununu, who is running for Governor, argued Graham’s twenty years as a Public Defender made her unqualified to be a judge. The councilors stood by their decision despite vocal pushback from the legal community.

For the first time in recent memory, New Hampshire’s Executive Council voted not to confirm an attorney nominated to a seat on the state's Superior Court bench. The Republican councilors who voted not to confirm Dorothy Graham, a longtime public defender, said they did so because of her history defending individuals accused of crimes -- particularly sex crimes against children. As word spreads of the scuttled nomination, some among the state’s legal community are voicing concern.